


Sweet Little Lies

by SceneCipriano



Series: Sweet Little Lies Series [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dee needs a hug, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, guilt tripping, the light sides are assholes in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-06-27 09:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19788187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SceneCipriano/pseuds/SceneCipriano
Summary: He only wanted to be their friend, that's it, but that was too much to ask of them. They only wanted him as an emotional punching bag, but it was his fault, right? He did offer to be the one to take on the burden of their pains.





	1. Patton's Burden

Deceit hated when the others would lie to themselves and to each other, he hated being able to hear their every little thought. Right now, Patton's was the loudest, the fatherly side constantly berating himself, telling himself that he can't do anything right and that the others just wished he would go away. Deceit couldn't ignore it anymore, the snake-like side sinks out of his room and appears in the den of nostalgia, the sight of Patton sitting in the floor hugging his knees tight to his chest broke the smaller sides heart. "Why... W-Why can't I just be more mature? Why can't I just be _better_ at my job!" Patton cries as he grips his hair with both hands, Deceit bites his lip and steps forward gently untangling Patton's fingers from his brown locks. Deceit offers the fatherly side a small smile when Patton looks up with tear-filled brown eyes. 

"That won't make it better, Patton. Trust me..." Deceit says as he squeezes the fatherly side's hands. Patton frowns and sniffles, ' _What is he doing here?'_ Patton thought the familiar feeling of disgust going through him. 

"You do a good job at what you do, Patton. I know it may seem like that the other's don't care... But they do. I care too and... If... If you let me I can take on the weight of your thoughts, i-it you want me to." Deceit mumbles as he once again flashes Patton a smile, the fatherly side furrows his brows in confusion. 

"W-Why would you want to help me?" Patton asks as he pulls one of his hands away from the snake-like side, Deceit rubs the back of his neck as he looks away from Patton. Deceit takes a deep breath and lets out a quiet laugh, he had to get Patton to trust him so it was time he dropped this whole tough guy act. 

"I care about you and it's my job as Thomas' self-preservation to keep him and all of his sides safe, not to mention that... That I was hoping we could be friends. I know, there have been questionable things that I've done to you guys, but that doesn't mean we can't put all of that behind us, does it?" Deceit asks, Patton tilts his head slightly and smirks, Deceit takes the action as something friendly when in reality it was the exact opposite. 

"So... You can take all of these thoughts away? How?" Patton asks softly, putting on his best innocent face. Deceit lights up and sits in front of Patton on the floor with his legs crossed underneath him. Patton watches as Deceit pulls his gloves off revealing scaly hands and slightly sharp nails, the fatherly side fights the urge to cringe away at the hideous sight. 

"Give me your hands, good. Now, tell me all of your problems and make them mine," Deceit says as he locks his fingers together with Patton's. The moral side blinks his eyes hard when he notices the faint yellow glow coming from Deceit's hands. 

"I... I feel useless when it comes to helping Thomas, I feel as if he doesn't need me as much as he needs the others. I cause him to make bad choices, make him feel horrible... Make him do things that he doesn't want to do. The others see me as the childish happy go lucky side and part of me hates it, part of me hates myself... Cause I'm the bad person here... N-Not Thomas... I-Its me..." Patton whispers, Deceit grits his teeth and holds onto Patton's hands tighter. Taking in those loud lies made the smaller sides entire body burn, it didn't help that Patton was beginning to believe these lies either. Once the burning subsides, Deceit takes a shaky breath and releases Patton's hands, instantly putting his gloves back on. 

"B-Better?" Deceit stammers, Patton grins and wipes away any stray tears that were left behind from his breakdown. 

"Sure, am kiddo! Say... Do you think we could do this whenever I'm feeling down? I know I should talk to the other's like I promised, but there's no need to burden them with this, ya know?" Deceit gives Patton a shaky smile and slowly nods as he pulls himself up from the floor stumbling slightly, Deceit takes a shaky breath and shakes his head gently. 

"Y-Yes, I don't mind helping... A friend out. If these thoughts come up again, don't hesitate to come to me okay?" Patton forces a grin and nods, Deceit smiles back and sinks out of the den of nostalgia. Patton drops his grin into a little smirk as he straightens his hoodie on his shoulders. 

"We're far from friends, _kiddo."_

\----------------- 

Everything was burning when Deceit returned to his room, Patton's constant negative thinking felt so much like the truth that it physically hurt. ' _Not good enough, never good enough! Be better, be stronger! SHOW THEM YOU'RE BETTER!'_ Deceit flinches at the scolding voice in his head, the smaller side collapses to his knees as he takes in a shuddering breath, mentally telling himself to follow the breathing exercises they had learned. The fiery pain slowly ebbed away, only leaving behind a dull ache in his bones. Deceit hated doing this, but if he was going to be Patton's friend then he had to do _something_. 

"I-It's okay, I'm okay." 

\----------------

A few days later Patton's burden began to feel a little too much for Deceit, the constant negative thoughts nagging at him to be better, to be nicer to the sides. Telling him that he was evil and that evil people need to be put down. He wasn't sure if those were Patton's thoughts or his own speaking to him, "Hey, kiddo! Say... Do you mind... Doing that little thing again? Today hasn't been... Great." Patton's voice startles him out of his thoughts, Deceit blinks slowly and looks up at the fatherly side. Patton did look to be a little under the weather, bags under his eyes, at least they looked like bags to Deceit, in reality, it was only smudges of eyeshadow that Patton had borrowed from Virgil. 

"I um... I-I don't know Patton, last time... Really took a lot out of me you know? I'm still struggling with the other thoughts..." Deceit mumbles, silently hoping that Patton would offer to talk to him about them. 

"But... But you said not to hesitate with coming to you! Was... W-Was all of that just a lie?" Patton asks, his voice growing thick with tears as his brown eyes grow shiny. Deceit tenses and quickly takes the fatherly sides hands. 

"N-No! I'm sorry! It wasn't a lie, we... W-We can do it! I'll help you." Deceit quickly assures as he squeezes Patton's hands, the fatherly side sniffles and flashes the smaller side a wavering smile. 

"T-Thank you, Dee, you're such a good friend," Patton whispers. Deceit smiles and quickly pulls his gloves off before taking Patton's hands again, this time the negative thoughts didn't hurt as bad, but something had... Changed about them. ' _You're the bad guy, you'll never be good in their eyes!'_ Deceit swallows thickly as he releases Patton's hands pulling his gloves back on. 

"T-There, all done!" Deceit exclaims, forcing happiness into his tone of voice. The smaller side flinches when Patton just sinks out, leaving him alone in the commons with his new negative thoughts that just kept repeating one thing, ' _You're nothing.'_

\-------------

"I-I can't... I-I can't handle this," Deceit whispers as he curls in on himself. Its been a week since he helped Patton, the thoughts were becoming worse and he didn't know what to do. Maybe... Maybe Patton might help him, let Deceit vent to him a little. Deceit takes a shaky breath and sinks out of his room appearing in Patton's, the fatherly side looked to be in a great mood. 

"P-Patton? C-Can I talk to you?" Deceit made sure to speak loud enough for the fatherly side to hear him because if he was being honest it was hard for him to speak without getting choked up. 

"Can it wait? I'm a little busy here," Patton replies, not even looking at the smaller side. Deceit looks down and mutters a quiet oh. 

"S-Sure... I-I'm sorry," Deceit mumbles as he sinks out. Patton smirks, ' _And let the games begin.'_


	2. Illogical Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "These feelings... They shouldn't be happening." 
> 
> "Well... Let me help, its what friends do right?"

Logan sighs hard and rubs his eyes under his glasses, today was particularly difficult for the logical side. It was if he could keep his _feelings_ under check, every little jab that Roman threw at him made Logan feel less and less... Robotic. Patton's silliness made him unbearably irritated, Virgil's constant worrying made Logan want to rip his own hair out, and then the twin's bickering made him want to scream in frustration. Logan huffs and leans back in his chair folding his arms over his chest, "I'm fine, it'll stop soon, it is illogical of me to even feel like this, look at me, _feel._ Such a hypocrite," he scolds himself as he glares hatefully at his desk. 

"Feelings aren't illogical, now lying to yourself, that's something that I would deem as illogical." Logan clenches his jaw and looks over to the side who decided to pop up in his room. Deceit flashes him a smirk, but Logan instantly saw through his cocky facade. Deceit hands shook as he tries to play off his usual act, dark bags were under the deceitful sides bi-colored eyes. 

"What exactly do you even know about feelings, Deceit? You can barely speak without uttering a falsehood," Logan snaps, a small smirk forming on his face when notices the smaller side flinch at his words. 

"Obviously, I know more than you oh so _great_ Logan. I'm not the one who's lying to himself saying that he is fine when he clearly isn't," Deceit snaps back, his tone not holding its usual bite. Logan glares and stands up from his chair easily towering over Deceit, he had to admit he was impressed that the younger side hadn't stepped back. Deceit held Logan's angry gaze, not backing down from the logical side. 

"What exactly is your reason for being here, Deceit? I didn't summon you nor do I enjoy your company, so, what's your plan? Pretend to be me again to spout more lies to Thomas?" Logan asks a hint of disgust in his voice. Deceit clenches his jaw and balls his hands into tight fists. 

"I just want to help you, I'm not just _lies,_ Logan. I am Thomas's self-preservation and it is my job to keep him and his sides safe." Deceit hisses narrowing his eyes at the logical side. Logan frowns and steps back away from Deceit folding his arms over his chest once more. 

"How can you help? Are you the one that's making me feel this way?" Logan accuses. 

"Oh for the love of, NO! I just want to try to help!" Deceit shouts, Logan sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. ' _I suppose I can just humor him just this once,'_ he thought as he clears his throat. 

"I... I apologize, Deceit. These feelings... They shouldn't be happening... I shouldn't be taking them out on you." Logan mumbles as he bows his head, if he were, to be honest, he didn't particularly care if he took these feelings out on the smaller side, the villain deserved it for everything he's done. Logan looks up when he feels Deceit's gloved hand on his arm, the snake-like side flashing him a small smile. 

"Well... Let me help, it's what friends do, right?" Deceit replies, Logan forces a smile to hide his disgust when Deceit associated himself as one of Logan's friends. 

"Alright, but I still don't see how you plan to help," Logan says, Deceit chuckles softly and pulls his gloves off. Logan scrunches his nose up slightly at the sight of the smaller sides scaly hands. Deceit gently takes Logan's hands in his own, Logan blinks owlishly when the smaller sides hands begin to glow a faint yellow. 

"Tell me all of your problems and make them mine," Deceit spoke softly. 

"I... I'm so _sick_ of the others constantly ignoring me, even after the whole Remus debacle they still don't listen to me. I'm supposed to be the serious one, but they treat me as if I am a joke... As if I am not important. It just makes me so... So angry sometimes," Logan whispers the last part as he tightens his hold on Deceit's hands. The smaller side bites the inside of his jaw. He never liked taking anger from people, but anger was better than the numbing pain of depression. Deceit takes a shaky breath and releases Logan's hands, he quickly slips his gloves back on. 

"F-Feel better?" Ask softly, Logan smiles lightly at the smaller side. 

"Yes, thank you, Deceit. It's hard to think about what I would have done if you hadn't helped me." Logan replies Deceit couldn't help the bright smile that formed on his face.

"T-That's what friends are for, Logan! The next time you're like this don't be scared to summon me, okay?" Logan hums softly and shoos the smaller side away, once Deceit has sunk out Logan allows his smirk to form on his face. 

"Yes, I'll be sure to utilize this... 'Friendship'." 

\----------------

The next time Logan needs Deceit's help, the snake-like side wasn't feeling well. "I-I'm sorry Logan, but I don't think I can help right now... I'm not feeling too hot," Deceit mumbles as he fidgets with his cloak, Logan frowns and narrows his eyes at the smaller side. Yes, his mood wasn't as horrible as it had been the first time, but he didn't feel like dealing with these stupid emotions, that was Patton's department, not his. 

"You said that I could summon you when I next felt like this, well I'm feeling like this so help me, Deceit," Logan growls, Deceit flinches and takes a shaky step back. Deceit glances up at Logan through his bangs. 

"I... I know what I said. Can't I just help you later? I've already helped Patton today..." Deceit replies. 

"Oh, so you like him better, that's it isn't it?" Logan asks Deceit's head snaps up his bi-colored eyes wide as he shakes his head. 

"N-No! I like you both equally! I-I just... C-Can't handle any more negative emotions today, that's all." Deceit replies, giving Logan a halfhearted smile. The logical side glares and steps forward. 

"If you don't help me, then I just might accidentally hurt one of the others. Do you want that to be your fault?" Deceit tenses and slowly shakes his head, Logan smirks and holds his hands out, palms facing upwards. 

"Then help me."

\-------------

Deceit couldn't sleep, Patton and Logan's constant negative emotions jumbling his thoughts causing them to race constantly without stopping. That's why he was here, standing in front of Logan's door his fist raised ready to knock. ' _You're nothing! He's not going to care about a nobody!'_ A demented version of Patton's voice hisses at Deceit in his head forcing the smaller side to close his eyes. ' _You're not important, never have been, never will be,'_ a new voice hisses. Deceit takes a shaky breath and knocks on Logan's door. The smaller side was relieved when Logan opened the door right away, the logical side looks down at him with an emotionless expression. "What is it? I didn't summon you." Logan says, Deceit flinches at his harsh tone. 

"I... I was hoping that maybe we could talk? I-I can't sleep... And I'm feeling pretty low." Deceit mumbles, Logan frowns. 

"You woke me up for this? You know I hate emotions and sentiment, go to one of the others." Logan snaps as he slams his door in Deceit's face, the smaller side flinches and looks down. A single tear slipping down his cheek as he turns to return to his room. 

"I'm sorry..." 


	3. Anxiety Is Contagious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D :D :D :D

"You said you would always help me, Deceit! Can't you see that I'm struggling over here!?" Virgil yells, his eyeshadow growing more intense as the seconds pass. Deceit flinches away and holds his shaking hands up, it wasn't that he didn't want to help Virgil, he was just tired. Every time he helped the anxious side horrible nightmares would plague him, leaving him paranoid about everything and everyone. His paranoia was high now due to him helping Virgil two times within this same week, insomnia was the worst, it was even harder to deal with when it enforced by anxiety. 

"I-I know, Vee, but... I really can't help right now... T-The thoughts from the past two days haven't gone away yet, V-Virgil I'm scared." Deceit stammers, his throat trying to close up as his tears blur his vision. The smaller side lets out a startled yelp when Virgil roughly grabs his hands when Deceit tries to pull away the anxious squeezes them painfully making it feel as if his bone might break if he were to squeeze any harder. 

"I don't _care_ if you're scared or not, you stupid snake! You're going to help me whether you want to or not!" Virgil snaps as he jerks Deceit's gloves off, the smaller side lets out a strangled cry as he tries to get away from the anxious side. 

"N-NO!" Deceit cries when Virgil connects their hands. 

Deceit gasps and sits up in his bed, his breathing coming out short and choppy. Cold sweat caused his hair to stick to his scaly face, Deceit closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath, and slowly lets it out through his nose. He does this a few more times before opening his eyes once more, his hands shook as he clung tightly to his blankets. Ever since he took on Patton and Logan's negative thoughts, he's been plagued with old nightmares. "I-Its okay, Dee Dee. V-Virgil wouldn't do that now... H-He's different, r-right?" Deceit whispers to himself. Surely Virgil had changed, the anxious side was much nicer since he joined the light sides, yes he was still rude to him, but he didn't outright hurt Deceit, not like before. 

"I-I'm just paranoid, t-that's all." He tells himself as he lays back down, ' _You're also useless, you tend to forget that little bit of information.'_ A distorted version of Logan's voice hisses at him in his head, Deceit sighs hard and turns over on his side to stare at his wall. 

' _I'm a paranoid, useless, nobody.'_

_\------------------------_

That morning, the mind palace was a wreck. Storm clouds formed in the commons, the mind palace shook and grew dark at certain times. Deceit knew exactly what was going on, Virgil was having another one of his fits. Which it didn't shock him that the anxious side was having a fit, today was a big audition for Thomas, Virgil had been worrying about it for weeks. Deceit wanted to help his old... Friend? Would that be a good word to use for their relationship? He felt that it was, sure Virgil was cruel to him sometimes but Deceit had deserved it. Anyway, he wanted to help his friend, but Patton and Logan had needed him, the two older sides staying in constant bad moods had Deceit working overtime to keep his friends safe. 

When the first bit of lightning struck, Deceit had made up his mind, he was going to help Virgil. Deceit sinks out of the common room and appears in Virgil's room, the heart of the snake-like side constricts when hears the first gasping breath come from the huddle of purple blankets on Virgil's bed. Something told Deceit to turn back, but the other voices in his head had different plans. ' _You better help him if you want to prove you're a good person! Good people don't turn friends away!'_ The voice that sounded like Patton scolds Deceit. The smaller side takes a shaky breath and steps forward, gently shaking Virgil under the covers. Deceit squeaks when a pale hand snatches his wrist, glowing purple eyes stare back at him. 

"W-What the hell are you doing here?" Virgil breathes, Deceit swallows the lump in his throat. 

"I-I'm here to h-help you, like before." Deceit replies, Virgil's eyes seem to flash an even bright purple when Deceit says 'like before.' Due to the blankets obscuring his face, Deceit had missed the cruel smirk that had formed on Virgil's lips. 

"That... T-That would be nice, i-its so hard to breathe, Dee Dee." Virgil whispers, using Deceit old childhood nickname in order to butter the snake-like side up. Deceit flashes Virgil an understanding smile as he slowly sits down on the edge of the anxious sides bed. Virgil watches as the smaller side pulls his gloves off and holds his hands out palms facing upwards. Virgil instantly wraps his shaking hands around Deceit's, grinning when the familiar yellow light engulfs their hands. 

"Tell me all of your problems, make them mine." Deceit mumbles, Virgil tightens his holds on Deceit's scaly hands. 

"I-I'm scared of this audition, what if we mess up? What if everyone laughs at us? I don't think I would be able to handle that... I don't think Thomas could handle it either, I just... I just want us to be okay, to be _normal."_ Virgil couldn't help but smirk when Deceit flinched at his tempest tongue, the yellow light fades as he Deceit let's go of the anxious sides hands. Virgil hadn't missed how Deceit's hands trembled as he slipped his gloves back on. 

"B-Better?" Deceit chokes, Virgil lowers the covers and smiles at Deceit as he nods. Without another word, Deceit sinks out once again leaving Virgil alone in his room. Virgil chuckles to himself. 

"Welcome back, _Dee."_

_\---------------_

Breathing was a struggle for Deceit, all of the voices were meshing together, everything became so hard to understand, but this was okay, right? He was helping his friends, so this had to be okay, _right?_ ' _Nothing is okay! Not when it comes to you, you're not normal! You don't look normal, you don't speak normal, hell you don't even act normal!'_ A new voice berates him, Deceit hated how it sounded so much like Virgil. ' _Don't forget nobody, kiddo! Wow, you're so... Plain.'_ Patton's voice chimed in, Deceit's breathing had picked up, his eyes becoming blurry as he braces himself against his wall. ' _You're also forgetting useless,'_ Deceit lets out a pitiful whine, losing control of himself for a moment as his four other arms appear, one set gripping and clawing at his hair and the other side hugging him around his waist. 

"I-I'm okay, i-it's okay. I-I'm being a good guy, I'm being _good."_

\---------------

"I won't ask again, snake face, _help me_ ," Virgil demands, a week has passed since Deceit last helped him they had nailed the audition and gotten the part, but now Virgil was anxious about something else. Deceit shakes his head, not even bothering to argue with the anxious side. He was so tired, from the anxiety induced nightmares to the voices in his head constantly berating him, Deceit couldn't sleep at night. Virgil growls and takes a step forward causing Deceit taking a faltering step back, it wasn't like he had nowhere to go, Virgil had summoned him to his room, preventing Deceit from even trying to escape. 

"You're so damn, selfish you know that? You only care about yourself and here I thought you were trying to be a light side." Virgil snaps, Deceit flinches. 

"I... I-I'm not... I've been helping Logan and Patton is all," Deceit mumbles. 

"Oh, I see how it is. You make new friends and just say forget, Virgil huh? Tell me, _Dee._ Who was the one that comforted you at night on the dark side? Oh right! Me! Not Patton or Logan, me! Nobody else ever cared about you but me, but now you're just wanting to throw that away just cause they give you attention!" Virgil yells, Deceit bites the inside of his jaw and blinks hard to keep his tears from falling. 

"N-No... Y-You're still my f-friend! I'm just... N-Not feeling good, Virgil... I-I'm scared of t-these thoughts I'm having." Deceit whispers, Virgil rolls his eyes and grabs Deceit by his wrists. The smaller side gasps and looks up, Virgil smirks and rips Deceit's gloves off. 

"V-Virgil! N-No, stop it!" Deceit cries, Virgil chuckles and locks his and Deceit's fingers together. 

"Stop being such a baby and help me, now, _say it,"_ Virgil growls, Deceit shakes his and tries to pull his hands away, yelping in pain when Virgil squeezes his hands so tight that Deceit could hear his bones popping. 

" _SAY IT!"_ Virgil yells as he slips into his tempest tongue, Deceit allows his tears to flow freely as he stares up at Virgil with pained bi-colored eyes. 

"T-Tell me all of your problems, m-make them mine." 

\-----------------

Virgil stares down at a crumpled and crying Deceit, the anxious side smirks and crouches down gently running his hand through Deceit tangled curls. "Crippling Anxiety is a bitch, I know. Let's chalk this down as payback for sending Remus out, yeah? It was so cute how you thought I'd forgive you for sending him." Virgil's tone dripped with sarcasm. 

Deceit just curls in on himself, ' _I-I deserve this...'_

' _Yes you do, freakshow.'_


	4. Prince's Lie All The Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out Roman isn't purely good hue hue hue

Deceit slowly peeks out of his room, he looks both ways down the hall making sure that Logan, Patton, or Virgil aren't around. Deceit breathes a sigh of relief as he steps out of his room, being sure to close the door behind him. When Deceit turns around he let's out a startled squeak when his face meets Roman's white covered chest, Deceit presses himself up against the door and stares up at the princely side with wide eyes. Roman tilts his head and raises his eyebrow, "You okay there Jack the Fibber?" Roman asks, Deceit takes a shaky breath and gives Roman a jerking nod. Roman frowns and bends down slightly so that he could get a better look at Deceit's face. Dark bags were under the snake-like sides face, his usually bright eyes dulled, and his scales a sickly pale green color. 

"Are you sure? Maybe I should get padre, you two have been spending a lot of time together." Roman says, Deceit quickly shakes his head and grabs Roman's arm, silently pleading him to not get Patton. ' _You're being a freak again, so pathetic,'_ the distorted version of Virgil's voice hisses causing Deceit to let go of Roman. 

"I-I'm sorry... I-I'm just... I-I'm so sorry." Deceit stammers as he holds his hands close to his chest, Roman shakes his head gently and flashes the smaller side a gentle smile. Deceit flinches when Roman places his hand on the smaller sides shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. 

"Relax, my scaly friend! You're acting as if I'm going to hit you," Roman chuckles as he steps away from Deceit. The smaller side relaxes slightly and laughs nervously as he rubs his arm, ' _Wow kiddo, you should feel horrible! Making Roman feel like that!'_ Deceit shakes his head and looks down allowing his bangs to fall over his eyes, ' _Roman you idiot, look at what you did! You're supposed to play nice!'_ Deceit blinks and slowly looks up, Roman's brows were furrowed. 

"Y-You're not an idiot, I'm just not having a good day is all... Y-You really shouldn't think like that, Roman." Deceit mumbles, Roman blinks and looks down at the snake-like side. 

"How did you know that I was thinking that?" Roman asks. 

"I... I can hear... The lies you tell be it to yourself or to the others. I um... I can talk to you if you want," Deceit offers, he would have helped Roman, like how he helped the others, but he couldn't risk making things for his mental health worse, Roman smiles.

"That would be nice, Kaa. Shall we go to my room or yours?" Roman asks, Deceit lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he returns Roman's smile. 

"We can go to yours, mine is a bit of a mess." Deceit replies, Roman grins and snaps his fingers transporting him and Deceit in his room, both of them landing on bean bag chairs. 

"Okay, let's talk away," Roman says, Deceit nods and gestures for Roman to go ahead and tell him about what's been bothering the princely side. Roman conjures some tea and hands Deceit a cup. 

"Well... I've not been feeling very glittery lately, I'm not sure if it's because my brother is back or if its something else. I'm not... Sad per se, I just don't feel like myself, I feel as if a portion of myself has been... Changed." Roman explains, Deceit nods and tightens his hold on his cup to still his shaking hands. ' _Your fault, you brought Remus out, this is all your fault, freak.'_

"I... I'm sorry, Roman. It's my fault, I should have never let Remus out I had no idea that he would have gone that far." Deceit replies, Roman holds his hand up and shakes his head. 

"It's not your fault, Kaa. It was going to happen no matter what, it's just... Not easy I suppose," Roman mumbles. ' _It's never easy when you're supposed to be perfect..'_ Deceit looks up at Roman. ' _Do it, be a good person and help him, or do you want to be the villain?'_

"Roman... I... I can help you, i-if you want me to that is." Deceit replies, Roman looks at the smaller side a grin tugging at his lips, ' _Too easy,'_ the perks of having a brother on the dark side, is that he was a brother who couldn't keep his mouth shut. Remus had let slip, about Deceit's little ability and what exactly happens to him when it's used, and Roman just couldn't pass up on revenge, could he? 

"You can? How?" Roman asks, Deceit gives him a tired smile as he pulls his gloves off holding his hands out for Roman to take. 

"I-I've already helped the others, it won't hurt to help a dashing prince as yourself," Deceit spoke softly, Roman hesitates for a moment. What would happen with Deceit were take on his ill thoughts as well? Remus would never forgive him if he were to hurt Deceit... But who cares? Deceit is a dark side, he doesn't matter. Roman takes the smaller sides hands, staring in awe when their hands begin to glow yellow. 

"Tell... Tell me all of your problems, make them mine." Deceit whispers, stuttering slightly. 

"I'm... I'm scared of becoming something that I don't want to be... I'm afraid of becoming my brother, I already feel... horrible thoughts running through my head. The urges to... just _give in_ is so strong." Roman explains as he squeezes Deceit's hands, the princely side smirks when the yellow glow slowly bleeds to a blood red. Deceit gasps and tries to pull his hands away, forcing Roman to hold onto his hands even tighter. Deceit clenches his jaw tight when horrible images flash through his head, Roman standing over the other dark sides and himself, all bloodied and grinning like a madman.

"R-Roman! L-Let go!" Deceit pleads, the creative side just chuckles as he tightens his hold, forcing the smaller side to see more gruesome images, once Deceit is trembling and shaking Roman releases him causing the smaller side to fall back on the bean bag chair he sat in. Deceit sobs and holds his hands close to his chest, they burned and ached.

"W-Why? I-I thought..." Deceit chokes. 

"You thought what? That we were friends? In the words of our resident nerd, falsehood, you scaly fiend! Did you really think you could just bring my brother here and not expect any repercussions? You're quite a gullible snake, it's really sad." Roman mocks, Deceit whimpers and quickly snatches his gloves, without another word to Roman the smaller side sinks out, the princely side smirks to himself. 

"Now, let's see how long it takes for him to fade." 

\------------------

In his room Deceit collapses to his knees, an anguished scream rips through him as he grips his hair tight. Images of him falling over the subconscious went through his head, the voices chanting over and over for him to just fade away. ' _You're not needed! You're useless!'_ The voice that sounds like Logan yells, ' _You won't be missed! You're nothing to really miss!'_ Deceit pulls his hair and bites his lip hard causing his lip to bleed, ' _Pathetic freakshow!'_

' _Do us a favor and jump over the edge.'_

**_"SHUT UP!!"_** Deceit screams. 


	5. Dark Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all intrusive thoughts are bad, in fact, some of them are your only friends.

" _ **SHUT UP!"**_ Deceit cries as he grips his hair tight, pulling painfully at it causing some of his roots to snap. ' _USELESS, USELESS, USELESS~!'_ The distorted voices of the light sides join together as they sing, Deceit let's out a strangled cry and curls in on himself. What had he done to deserve this? Sure, he impersonated Patton and Logan, and allowed Remus his freedom, but were all of those so horrible for them to just... Just use him? ' _Use!? How dare you! They needed your help and now you're accusing them of using you! SELFISH!'_ The distorted Patton voice scolds, Deceit whimpers and bites his lip harder causing more blood to slip down his trembling chin. ' _Eugh, the freak is bleeding! This is why nobody likes you!'_ The Virgil voice snaps, Deceit releases his bottom lip and lets out a strangled sob. 

"Dee! Look at what I ma-... Deceit?" The sound of Remus's voice causes Deceit's blood to run cold, the smaller side sniffles and shakily wipes the tears from his eyes along with the blood that flowed steadily down his chin. Deceit clears his throat and forces himself to stand up on shaky legs, once he's upright Deceit glances over his shoulder to look at the trashy Duke, not allowing Remus full view of his face. 

"Y-Yes? What... What did you make, Remus?" Deceit asks, silently cursing himself for stuttering. ' _Wow, can't even lie right, isn't there anything you can do without messing it up?'_ Roman's voice hisses inside his head making the smaller side flinch. ' _I-I'm so useless...'_ Deceit thought as he bows his head resting his chin on his chest, he closes his eyes tight to stop his unshed tears from falling. Remus frowns and steps forward grabbing Deceit by his shoulders spinning the smaller side around so that they were face to face or well face to chest for Deceit. Remus inhales sharply, Deceit's eyes were red and swollen from crying, his scales looking even more sickly than before, and the bags under his eyes easily rivaled Virgil's. 

"You... Look like shit," Remus says. 

"Yes... Thank you for that wonderful observation Remus, so kind of you, now what do you want?" Deceit asks, Remus frowns. Deceit was never snappy with him, well not _never,_ but he never snapped at him unless he had a reason to. 

"I want you to stop thinking that you're useless because you're not. You're far from it, Dee Dee!" Remus exclaims, Deceit flinches at the use of his old nickname. ' _Aww, he's lying to you Dee Dee~! You are useless! Let's not forget pathetic, plain, a nobody, and oh! My favorite, a freak.'_ Virgil's voice coos, Deceit grits his teeth and steps away from Remus gripping his hair once more giving it a few harsh tugs. 

"S-Shut up," Deceit mumbles.

"Stop that!" Remus snaps as he grabs Deceit's hands, Remus jumps when Deceit screams. The Duke releases his hands and holds his own up showing that he wasn't going to hurt Deceit. The smaller side backs away only to trip over his own feet landing harshly on the floor. 

"Deceit... What is going on, little snake? I can't help if you don't tell me," Remus mumbles as he crouches down. Deceit sniffles and balls his hands into tight fists, this is the first time Remus noticed that Deceit wasn't wearing his gloves. Remus scans the smaller sides room, frown tugs at his lips when he sees the familiar yellow gloves thrown haphazardly across the room. 

"I-I just... I-I jussst wanted to be their friend," Deceit whimpers as he holds his hands close to his chest. ' _No one wants to be friends with a nobody,'_ Deceit lets out a shaky sob as he tackles Remus into a hug forcing the Duke to fall back onto the floor. Remus blinks before slowly wrapping his arms around the trembling side, ' _Why does this feel familiar?'_

 _"_ I-I helped Patton first, b-but then he kept wanting me to help and the thoughts are so... So bad! A-And Logan he... He's always so mad and I h-helped... T-Then Virgil... T-The nightmares are so bad... T-They hurt... A-And Roman he... H-He..." Deceit stammers before he breaks out into sobs once more, Remus felt his anger flare as he tightens his hold on Deceit. 

"Why... Why did you use your abilities, Deceit? You know what it does to you..." Remus mumbles as he runs his fingers through Deceit's tangled curls. Deceit sniffles and clings tight to Remus's shirt, afraid that the Duke would disappear, ' _You're the one who needs to disappear.'_

"I... I wanted t-to show them that they could trust me, that I'm not bad... But I am bad... I'm a horrible person who just deserves to fade... Thomas doesn't need me." Deceit whispers in a broken voice. Remus gently pushes Deceit away in order to look him dead in the eyes. 

"That has got to be the worst lie you've told yet, you're not horrible and you're not a bad person. You've done questionable things, but everyone does!" Remus exclaims, Deceit looks down and picks at the scales on his hand. 

"B-But they said..." 

"I don't give a rats ass what they said! You are important, Deceit. Now... Give me your hands, you may be self-preservation, but not even you can handle the burden of four assholes." Remus says as he holds his hands up palms facing upwards, Deceit hesitates for a moment before he places his hands in Remus's, it honestly felt... Wrong for the Duke to have such a gentle touch. A pale green light engulfs their hands, the smaller side relaxes when the voices of the others leave his head. Remus smiles and releases Deceit's hands, instantly catching the smaller side as he begins to lean forward. 

"I-I'm sorry..." Deceit mumbles as his eyes slip closed, exhaustion taking over forcing the young side to fall asleep for the first time in two weeks. Remus sighs and gently lifts Deceit into his arms laying him down in his bed. The Duke smiles when Deceit instantly cuddles up with his plush snake that he had named Sir Slithers, Remus's smile falls when he hears laughter coming from the living room. 

" _I'm going to make you four wish you were never formed."_


	6. Best Served Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> COME ON TRASH MAANNNN

Once Deceit was safely tucked into his bed, Remus stalks out of the smaller sides room with only one thing on his mind and that was putting those so-called light sides in their place. The Duke grits his teeth when he sees that the living room is empty, he couldn't feel their presence in the mind palace so that meant they were in the real world with Thomas. "If you assholes want to do this in front of Thomas, then so be it," Remus growls as he sinks out. When he appears behind Roman everyone except his brother lets out a startled scream, Remus ignores them and forcefully spins his brother around darting his eyes from Roman's face to all of the others. Roman narrows his eyes and steps away from Remus, the Duke growls and tightens his hold on Roman's arm. 

"What the fuck is wrong with you guys?" Remus hisses. 

"Language!" Patton scolds, Remus turns his heated glare onto the fatherly side. 

"Oh, piss off with that, Morality! Now, tell me why you four were so cruel to Deceit!" Remus snaps, the four light sides share a look. Thomas furrows his brows in confusion as he watches his sides. 

"What is going on?" Thomas asks Remus forces a grin on his face as he squeezes Roman's arm tight earning himself a pain-filled groan from his brother. The others glare at him, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut. 

"Well, dear Thomas, it seems your oh so good, light sides have pushed Deceit too far. Tricking him into believing they were his friends, but all they were doing was using his kindness against him in order to hurt him for something that wasn't HIS FAULT." Remus screams the last part, causing the other sides and even Thomas himself to flinch. Remus tries his best to keep his grin up, but it was hard when the four people you couldn't stand were standing right in front of you, ' _Make them fade away~.'_ Remus shakes his head and takes a deep breath. 

"He's lying! Deceit has been manipulating us, forcing us to feel these horrible things!" Patton argues, the room grows silent when a soft popping noise sounds behind Thomas, everyone turns and sees a sleeping Deceit curled up on the couch. Seeing his friend is what sent Remus over the edge, the Duke roughly pushes Roman over to Patton as he stomps over to where Deceit laid. 

"If I'm lying then why did Dee show up when Patton opened his hypocritical mouth? Why would I even lie about that, Thomas! Don't you remember my song!? People don't like me much but that's just because I'm _honest."_ Remus growls the last part as he shields Deceit away from the light sides hateful glares. Thomas glances over to his main sides then back over to Remus who was now sitting next to Deceit gently carding his hand through the snake's tangled hair. Thomas felt his heart constrict when he got a better look at Deceit's face, the smaller side looked exhausted even as he slept, his scales a sickly pale green, his bottom lip swollen from how hard he bit it, and dark bags that easily rivalled Virgil's took up must of the shallow skin under his eyes. 

"Guys... Did... Did you really do this to him?" Thomas asks, Roman scoffs as he rubs his arm he was sure that his brother had bruised it. 

"No point in lying, yes, we did, but he deserved it! He's a dark side and freed my brother bringing him here just because he didn't get his way with the wedding!" Roman snaps, Thomas stares at him with wide eyes. 

"That doesn't give you the right to... To do _this_ to him! This is cruel! Patton how could you even agree to this!?" Thomas exclaims Patton frowns and rolls his eyes at their host. 

"Technically, they agreed with me, kiddo. Besides, it's not like he _matters._ You're a good person Thomas! With Deceit around, that's just making you into someone you're not." Patton argues, Remus has heard enough. The Duke stands up and with a wave of his hand, his morning star appears as he holds it up in a threatening matter. 

"HE DOES MATTER! HE WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU ASSHOLES, HE WAS TRYING TO BE YOUR FRIEND!" Remus yells as he takes a step forward, the confidence that Patton had washed away at that moment. Roman stood in front of the fatherly side pulling out his own weapon, daring his brother to try something. 

"YOU- YOU CAN'T JUST PUT ALL OF THE BLAME ON HIM! HE'S YOUNG, HE MAKES MISTAKES! WE ALL DO!" Remus screams as he swings his weapon down, Roman instantly blocks it with his sword. Remus growls and pushes against Roman's weapon, Patton stares at the Duke with wide fearful eyes. Remus squeaks when two pairs of hands pull him away from Roman, pushing him back towards the couch where Deceit still laid. 

"Lay off, the stupid snake is fine, he's not dead." Virgil snaps, Remus growls. 

"Besides, as you said Remus, he was 'trying' to help, meaning he offered, we merely just took the offer and used it to our advantage." Logan chimes in, Remus' whole body shook with rage, he couldn't understand how they could be so cruel, but he could be crueler. Remus smirks and tilts his head to the side allowing his neck to crack as he did. 

"You're right, Logan you absolute genius you're right!" Remus exclaims while cackling, the light sides all narrow their eyes at the Duke as he claps his hands together, a demented shine in his eyes. 

"He was trying to help~! Now it's _my_ turn to help." Remus says, allowing his tone to drop down a bit. With a flick of his hand, Remus sends the light sides every last thought that he took from Deceit, once again making them theirs, even the ones that belonged to Deceit himself. The light sides scream as they double over clutching their heads, Thomas stares at Remus with wide eyes. 

"W-What did you do?" He asks. 

"I gave them a taste of their own medicine," Remus replies as he snaps his fingers, forcing the light sides to fall into a dream state, or really a nightmare state as he likes to call it. 

"I'm... Sorry, you had to see that Thomas, I really am but they needed to be punished, they almost... Almost killed him." Remus chokes out the last part, he glances over to Deceit who was still curled up sleeping peacefully for once. Remus blinks when he feels a hand on his arm, the Duke looks over and sees Thomas smiling at him. 

"They need to learn that what they did was wrong, now, how about me and you keep an eye on Dee, hm?" Remus smiles back and nods, him and Thomas sit on the couch beside Deceit, Remus gently lifts the snake-like sides head allowing him to rest on his lap. 

"It's gonna be okay, Dee... I promise." 


	7. Sweet Little Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :D

Patton groans and sits up holding his head in his left hand, the fatherly side blinks his eyes open. Patton's eyes widen when he sees nothing back pitch darkness around him, the fatherly side looks around as he slowly pulls himself up from the cold... Ground? Of the darkroom, he was in. "H-Hello? T-Thomas? Guys!?" Patton calls, an echo of his own voice replying to him. A whimper leaves his trembling lips as he fiddles with the sleeves of his cat hoodie, a damp chill falling over his skin forcing him to shudder at the sudden temperature drop. ' _Wow, look at him, he's like a child!'_ A voice giggles within the darkness, another whimper leaves Patton as he tries to find the person who had spoken to him. 

' _He's so childish, never taking the matters at hand serious.'_ Another voice hisses, Patton flinches and looks down. He didn't like how that one sounded like Logan, Patton chews his bottom lip. "I-I'm not childish! I-I do take Thomas's problems serious!" Patton yells, his voice trembling slightly. 

' _Oh, please! You care!? What about the callback! You don't care if you cared then he could have skipped the wedding, heck he could have skipped it without lying to them!'_ A new voice shouts, Patton clenches his jaw as he wraps his arms around himself, this one sounded like Roman. "B-But... H-His friends were... M-More important," he stammers as he tries to fight off the tears in his eyes. 

' _What about us though? Thomas and I were a mess during that whole ceremony! YOU DON'T CARE!'_ The voice that sounds like Virgil is what pushes Patton over the edge, the fatherly side drops to his knees and sobs holding his hands over his ears. "I-I care... I-I didn't mean to be so... So bad, I CARE!" Patton screams as he pushes his hands against his ears. 

' _You're a nobody,'_ Patton drops his hands and stares at the ground with wide eyes, that... That was _his_ voice. Patton looks up and inhales sharply, lying across from him curled up in a tight ball was Deceit. The smaller side had his fingers tangled in his own locks, tears streaming down his scaly face, but that's not what truly shocked Patton the most. No, what shocked him the most was... Was the shadow that looked so much like him standing over Deceit, a cruel smile on its face. ' _Thomas doesn't need you! Go away!'_ The shadow version of himself yells, causing Deceit to let out a distressing sob. "H-Hey! Leave him alone, I-I never told him that!" Patton yells, every muscle in his body grows tense when the shadow turns to face him, Deceit disappearing as he does. 

' _Oh ho~! But you did! All of those times he helped when we really didn't need it, you made him feel... Well me, but who cares? This is Deceit we're talking about, he deserves to fade away, right Patton?'_ The shadow him asks, tears spill over Patton's eyes as he shakes his head. The other voices were right, he didn't care about them, but he should, he's the dad, he had to care! "H-He... He matters! I-I was wrong! Deceit matters and I was wrong for hurting him!" Patton exclaims the shadow him tilts their head as they fade away in a cloud of smoke, standing in its place was Remus. 

"Say that again," Remus says, Patton whimpers as more and more tears slip down his freckled face. 

"H-He matters and I'm sorry for hurting him, I-I was just _angry_ at him f-for letting you out. I-I never meant to hurt him that bad! I-I'm... I-I'm so sorry!" Patton cries as he hides his face in his hands. Remus stares down at the fatherly side, he couldn't detect any lies in Patton's little monologue, the Duke sighs and snaps his fingers. 

Patton gasps and sits up, the fatherly side squeaks in alarm when he sees Virgil and Roman unconscious beside him. Another squeak leaves Patton when he's forcefully lifted up from the floor, "Tell him what you told me." Remus seethes as he carries Patton over to Thomas's couch, the fatherly side blinks hard when he sees the snake-like side snuggled up to Thomas, his snake out peeking out at Patton as the smaller side hides the other half of his face in Thomas's side. 

"I-I... I-I'm sorry for what I did to you, Deceit. I-It wasn't supposed to have gone this far, I was just so angry that you let Remus out... B-But now I see that I let my rage blind me kiddo, a-and I'm just... I-I'm just s-sorry." Patton says as he tries his best to choke back a sob, Deceit sits up a little so that he could face Patton fully, the smaller side couldn't detect any lies coming from the fatherly side. 

"Y-You matter, Deceit a-and I'm so sorry that I made you feel like you didn't, t-that wasn't very dad-like of me," Patton says, Deceit looks at Remus and gently nods his head. The Duke huffs and drops Patton letting the fatherly side to land harshly on the floor, Deceit narrows his eyes at Remus when Patton lets out a yelp. 

"Don't give me that look! He almost killed you, I'm allowed to be angry, Dee." Remus huffs, Deceit rolls his eyes and holds his gloved hand out to Patton, the smaller side was grateful that Thomas had an old pair for him to use. Patton hesitates for a moment before he takes Deceit's hand allowing the snake-like side to help him up. 

"I... I forgive you," Deceit whispers as he gives Patton a small smile. The fatherly side sniffles and surges forward giving Deceit a tight hug, earning a flustered hiss from the snake-like side. 

"T-Thank you... I-I promise I'll be better, kiddo." 

\------------------

"Well... This is a bit of a predicament," Logan mutters as he looks around the darkness that surrounded him. He knew that this was Remus's doing, it would be easy to get out of, he just couldn't let the Duke bother him. ' _Logan, just shut up and listen to us. You're like the least favorite side anyways, not like anyone wants to listen to your logical bullshit.'_ Logan blinks when a voice like Virgil's echoed around him, the logical side looks around but doesn't find the purple-clad emo. 

"Very funny, Virgil! Come out from where ever you're hiding!" Logan calls, his own voice echoing back was his only reply. ' _Honestly, why do we bring him around anymore? He's so boring, never giving the video any... Life.'_ Another voice speaks, this time it sounded like Patton which made Logan slightly uncomfortable. 

"Honestly, you guys if this is your idea of some childish antic, it isn't working!" Logan yells, once again having his voice echo back at him. ' _All he ever does is shoot my ideas down! As if he could do better if he had it his way we'd only talk about the constellations! He's so boring and plain, nobody likes him! He's never been important!'_ Logan flinches at the harsh words spoken by the voice that sounds like Roman. 

"That's... That's not true, the viewers like me! TAKE IT BACK!" Logan growls, ' _You're useless.'_ Logan frowns when he hears his own voice, the logical side turns to where he heard the voice and freezes. Sitting on the ground with his knees pulled to his chest was Deceit, his face buried in the folds of his arms as a shadow version of Logan looms over him in a threatening matter. ' _You're not important and you never will be,'_ the shadow hisses causing Deceit to flinch at its words. 

"Falsehood! Deceit is an important role in Thomas's personality, without him Thomas would lack self-preservation and the ability to tell small lies in order to appease his friends if they are needed!" Logan argues, he blinks when Deceit disappears and when the shadow turns around to face him. ' _Oh? If that's true then why did you tell him these things? When he helped you with your anger and all of those emotions, why did you force him to think that he wasn't important?'_ The shadow him asks, Logan tenses and stares at the shadow with wide eyes. 

"I... He brought Remus to light and ruined my planning thus frustrating me to no end... I just wanted to punish him." Logan replies, now that he's heard himself say that he can't get it out of his head at how illogical he sounds. Revenge was never the answer, that was petty and childish of him to even stoop that low. ' _The poor little snake just wanted to be your friend, but yet you pushed him to nearly fading.'_

"THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! H-He was only just supposed to have learned his lesson!" Logan argues, the shadow him smirks as he takes a step forward causing Logan to take a step back. ' _Stop lying to yourself and admit it, you were hoping that he would have faded, ADMIT IT!'_

"NO!" Logan yells as he covers his ears, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Logan closes his eyes tight allowing his tears to slip down his cheeks, what has he done? He had turned into the monster that he claimed the Duke to not be. 

"I-I... I-I'm so sorry Deceit," Logan whispers. The shadow version of himself melts away leaving Remus in its place, the trashy Duke clears his throat forcing Logan to look up at him. 

"Do you mean it?" Remus asks, Logan drops his hands and sniffles wiping away his tears. 

"Y-Yes," he replies softly, Remus smirks and snaps his fingers.

Logan sits up breathing heavily as he shakily pats himself down, the logical side looks up and sees Remus standing over him. Logan gulps and backs away from the Duke using his legs. "Go ahead, tell him what you said, Logan," Remus says as he gestures to the couch with his right arm, Logan looks over and sees Deceit sitting in between Patton and Thomas, Patton's cat hoodie wrapped snuggly over Deceit's shoulders. Logan looks away, he didn't deserve to have Deceit looking at him with those soft heterochromia eyes. 

"I... I'm sorry, Deceit. I took your friendship for granted, I should have never taken my anger out on you the way I did. You made a mistake, but... But as Remus said before who doesn't? You... You are important to Thomas and us sides and I am truly sorry for ever making you feel like you weren't." Logan says the logical side blinks when he hears a sniffle, he looks over to the couch and sees tears streaming down Deceit's scaly face. 

"I-I forgive you, and don't worry you, lovable nerd, these are happy tears." Deceit chuckles as he wipes his eyes, Logan smiles. Remus yawns loudly as he jerks the logical side up from the floor by the back of his shirt. 

"Great, now go hug the snake before I decide to bash your head in anyways," Remus says as he pushes Logan forward. The logical side stumbles slightly before he straightens up, Logan lets out a startled yelp when Patton pulls him down on the couch forcing him into a group hug with him and Deceit. 

"Perhaps... This would have been a better method than the one we used before," Logan mumbles as he wraps Deceit in a hug, causing the others to laugh. 

"Now we've just got two more," Remus mutters to himself as he looks down at Virgil and Roman, a smirk twitching at his lips as he flicks his hand slightly. 

" _And you two's will be the worst."_


	8. Sweet Little Truths Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MMMMMMMMM

Roman groans as he sits up, holding his head in his hand, "I-I swear when I get out of here Remus you are so dead." Roman mumbles as he blinks his eyes open, the princely side furrows his brows when he notices that he is back in the mind palace living room. Had Remus spared him from the nightmare scape? If so, then his brother must have realized that he was right about Deceit. A scream from inside the kitchen is what get's Roman moving, the princely side hops up from the floor and draws his sword rushing into the kitchen. Roman freezes in the doorway, standing over a cowering Patton was... Him, but then again not him. It was as if his outfit was reversed, black instead of white with a much darker red for his sash, the other him held his sword up high a demented cackle coming out of him as he swings it down, effectively shutting the screaming fatherly side up. 

"No!" Roman yells as he rushes forward, the other him quickly turns around instantly blocking the Prince's sword with his own. Roman tenses when a pair of crazed red eyes stare back at him, a wide smile plastered onto his bloodied face. The demented version of himself chuckles as he easily pushes Roman back causing the creative side to lose his balance for a moment. 

"What's the matter~! You act as if you've seen a ghost!" The double coos as he swings his sword at Roman once again, Roman squeaks as he quickly holds his sword up blocking the doubles attack. 

"W-Who are you!?" Roman demands, cursing himself for stuttering. The double grins as he pushes hard against Roman's sword, forcing him to take a step back, Roman grits his teeth as he tries his best to push back against the double. 

"I'm you~! Surely our outfit change wasn't too drastic! I am what you fear the most, so scared of becoming like Remus when you really shouldn't be! We could rule these fools and Thomas with an iron fist." The double says as he tries to knock Roman's sword from his hand, Roman holds onto his sword tighter and rolls away from his doppelganger. 

"Because I'm not a dark side! I'm not evil!" Roman shouts, the doppelganger lets out a loud cackle as he points his sword at Roman's throat effectively shutting the prince up for once in his life. 

"You're not evil? Please! If you're so good, then why do you tap into some of Remus's power, hmm? Why did you make the little one see the things that you can never escape at night?" The doppelganger asks as he tilts his head to the side, Roman blinks and clenches his jaw. 

"Because he... He deserved it! He let Remus out!" Roman yells, the doppelganger narrows his eyes and takes a step forward allowing the point of his sword to rest on Roman's neck. 

"Dee didn't deserve those thoughts. He isn't the one who brought Remus here, YOU WERE!" The doppelganger shouts, Roman blinks when the doppelganger of himself fades away leaving his brother in its place holding a sword to Roman's neck. 

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SUMMONED ME! ALL OF YOU IDIOT LIGHT SIDES DID IT WITH YOUR CONSTANT INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS! YES, I MENTIONED DECEIT IN MY SONG, BUT THAT WAS ONLY BECAUSE OF RHYMING PURPOSES!" Remus yells as he presses the point of the sword deeper into Roman's neck, but not enough to cut him. 

"FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, ROMAN THINK! WHO WAS THE ONE WHO HAD THOSE HORRIBLE THOUGHTS OF HURTING PATTON OVER THE CALLBACK!? WHO WAS THE ONE THAT WAS TEMPTED TO JOIN ME AND DECEIT ON THE DARK SIDE!" Remus screams Roman closes his eyes tight tears slipping down his cheeks. 

"I-I did..." Roman whispers, Remus glares and moves the sword allowing his brother to breathe. 

"You almost killed, Dee. All of you did, with the constant negative thoughts you morons placed on him... H-He thought about jumping into the subconscious, Roman!" Remus snaps, Roman flinches and looks down. 

"I... I was just angry... I-I needed someone to take it out on a-and I lost control! I... I never meant for it to go that far... E-Even though I put the idea in his head I-I didn't mean to." Roman stammers as more tears stream down his face, Remus glares at his brother before sighing. The Duke pulls Roman into a tight hug, the prince instantly hugging him back sobbing into his shoulder, Remus snaps his fingers. 

Roman gasps and sits up instantly patting himself down, Roman looks up when someone clears their throat about him. Remus is holding his hand for his brother to take, "If you truly meant what you said, then I was you to tell Dee." Remus says, his voice softer than its ever been in years. Roman swallows and shakily takes his brother's hand allowing the Duke to lift him off of the floor. Remus gently pushes Roman to the couch, the prince couldn't help but smile when he saw Patton and Logan cuddled up to Deceit, Thomas sitting close to them. 

"Deceit I... I'm... Sorry, for what I did. I-I was only planning to just put off my negative feelings on you, but I went too far by... Forcing my intrusive thoughts on you, that was cruel of me and not very princely like. I am truly sorry for hurting you the way I did... I was just angry... A-And I'm just s-so sorry." Roman chokes as he tries his best to hold in a sob, Deceit smiles softly and sniffles. 

"I... I forgive you, Roman. Now come join the cuddle pile," Deceit chuckles as he wipes away a stray tear. Roman returns his smile and sits beside Patton instantly clinging to the fatherly side. 

"Now we've just got one more to go," Remus says as he walks over to Virgil. 

"Can't he just stay in there..." Deceit mumbles Remus tenses and looks over his shoulder at Deceit. The smaller side pleading with him silently, Remus sighs and looks back down at the anxious side. 

"Thomas needs him, Dee," Remus says as he snaps his fingers transporting himself back into the nightmare scape, Deceit draws his shoulders up and clenches his jaw tight. The others look at him with concern, Thomas gently taps Deceit's hand getting the smaller sides attention. 

"Why don't you want him to bring, Virgil back?" Thomas asks Deceit looks down. 

"Because I know he won't stop, he never does." 

\------------------

"Once I'm out of here, you're going to regret it you damn trash heap," Virgil growls as he stalks through the darkness of the nightmare scape. A scoff from behind him causes Virgil to spin around, his eyes glowing a faint purple to show off just how angry he was. 

"You're lucky that I'm even considering letting you out, this makes what? The umpteenth time you've done this to him?" Remus's voice echoes around Virgil, the anxious side smirks as he crosses his arms over his chest. 

"He shouldn't be so gullible all the time, he's so pathetic! You know he is, Remus." Virgil taunts, Remus growls and tackles the anxious side to the floor instantly pinning him down. Virgil hisses and tries to push Remus off, but stops when the Duke points his morning star at him. 

"You have no idea, how easy it would be to just bash your brains in right now, to just be rid of you all together. New anxiety would take your place, but I know that Thomas and the others would never forgive me, so instead, I'll just make you suffer." Remus growls as he grabs Virgil's head with both hands, Virgil screams as he tries to fight the Duke off. Images of him falling flashed through his head, voices of the others telling him pathetic and weak he was overlapped each other, tears slip down the former dark sides face as he tries his best to fight out of Remus's hold. The Duke glares and releases Virgil, the anxious side was trembling his breaths coming out short and choppy. 

"W-What the h-hell was t-that?" Virgil chokes, as more tears stream down his face causing his eyeshadow to run. Remus glares and stands up leaving Virgil lying on the ground, just like how Deceit was when he found him. 

"All of the thoughts you bastard made him see and feel, it isn't fun is it, Virgil?" Remus seethes, the anxious side chokes back a sob when a distorted voice like Patton's called him a nobody, Virgil shakes his head and takes a shaky breath. 

"It isn't fun wanting to fade away, just to make the pain stop, IS IT VIRGIL?" Remus yells. 

"N-NO!" Virgil cries as he curls in on himself, Remus growls and jerks Virgil up from the floor holding him up by his hoodie and shirt. The anxious side doesn't even try to fight back this time. 

"THEN WHY DID YOU DO IT TO DEE!? TELL ME THE TRUTH!" Remus screams. 

"BECAUSE HE MAKES IT EASY! H-HE MAKES IT EASY AND I'M SORRY FOR TAKING IT FOR GRANTED!" Virgil yells, Remus narrows his eyes and drops Virgil back onto the floor snapping his fingers.

Virgil gasps and sits up, the anxious side instantly backing away when he sees Remus's familiar boots standing in front of him. Remus glares and jerks Virgil up by his hood forcing the anxious side to look at Deceit and the others. "You tell them what you told me right now or I swear to everything holy that I will put your ass back in that nightmare scape, TELL THEM!" Remus snaps. 

"I-I'm sorry!! I-I'm sorry that I took your kindness for granted, a-and I'm sorry that I'm such a prick for doing this over and over! I-I... I-I'M SORRY OKAY!" Virgil yells, his breaths coming out quick. Remus huffs and drops Virgil to the floor with a soft thud, the anxious side instantly hugging his knees to his chest. Patton rushes over to Virgil pulling him into a gentle hug, he looks up at Remus and frowns softly. 

"Did you really have to be so harsh?" Patton asks, Remus glares and opens his mouth to say something, but stops when Deceit clears his throat. Remus huffs out an angry sigh as he backs away crossing his arms over his chest. Logan and Roman join Patton in his hug for Virgil, they beckon for Deceit to join them. The snake-like side hesitates for a moment before he does, but what they all had missed... Even Remus and Thomas had missed it... Was the tiny smirk that Virgil had plastered on his face. 

' _Too easy.'_


End file.
